Creation: I believe that God created the universe. I believe that God created man in his own image and created the Earth for everybody to live on. God envisioned a world without sin. A place were people live in peace in harmony.
Theodicy: I believe there is evil in the world because of Satan the devil. God created the world and envisioned the earth to be a place of peace and harmony. Than he created Adam and Eve, and they lived in the Garden of Eden, where the only rule was to not eat fruit from a tree of life. But the devil tricked Eve into eating the fruit which made God furious and brought evil into this world. Even though this story may not be true, it shows that there is temptation in men which creates evil in this world.
Destiny: I believe that after we die we go to an after life. God decides whether we go to heaven or hell. I believe the way to get to heaven is to have faith and believe that Jesus Christ is our savor and lord, and died to cleanse us of our sins. I believe that Gods is very graceful towards everyone even if you commit many sins you will still go to heaven as long as you ask for forgiveness because it says in the bible that every sin is equal, does not matter what it is.
Ethics: I believe people should live their lives giving their best effort to follow the rules and guidelines God has given us. I believe people should try their best to go to church, not to lie, and not to fight. But because were people we do not always do that and God knows that, so he forgives us.
Brian: Hello sir, my name is Brian.
Guru: Why hello there. Anything I can do for you?
Brian: Well I have three questions about Hinduism, and I was wondering if you could answer them?
Guru: Why yes I can.
Brian: First, I was wondering what happens once a soul truly achieves moksha? What is it like? Where do they go?
Guru: Well moksha means liberation. It is when a soul is finally freed from the samsara cycle. After, the soul is reunited with Brahman. Brahman is the ultimate reality. Brahman is a heavenly place where I live and the souls are able to rest from all the hardships their pass live had to go through.
Brian: That is very interesting. Second, I was wondering if I am really living in an illusion called Maya? And if so, what is the purpose of us living in an illusion?
Guru: Yes you are living a Maya. Maya is an illusion in which everyone lives in that has not reached moksha. The purpose of Maya is kinda to test you, to see if you are worthy to reach moksha and be reunited with Brahman. Maya allows me to see if people actually follow the dharma.
Brian: Wow that is very fascinating. Finally, I was wondering why you take many forms as other types of gods? Why don't you just stay God?
Guru: Well the reason why I take many forms is so that I appeal to everyone. Every person worships whatever god appeals to them the most. If am many gods I can appeal to everyone. For example, if a person like to preserve the world, they can pray to Vishnu.
Brian: Thank you for your time. This was very insightful!
Mindfulness was very tough. It took me a lot of concentration to sit still and reflect on my thoughts. Mindfulness to me was like trying to go to sleep right after drinking a soda, you try to fall asleep, but you can't because the caffeine is keeping you up. During my meditations, I gave my best effort to let go of the outside world and try to focus on my thoughts, but it was difficult and I kept losing focus. One thought that kept going through my mind was how are monks able to do this for extended period of times. To me the five minutes felt like an hour and it is amazing how a man could meditate for forty minutes. But eventually on Sunday, I got the hang of meditation or at lest a better understanding of it. I was able to focus on my thoughts more clearly when I started to pay attention to my breathing. The thoughts that I had were memories about family and friends, and the good times I have had with all of them. In the end, mindfulness was very difficult, but i persevered through and I believe now I have a better understanding of it.
If I were God, and I was giving Moses the Ten Commandments all over again, I would only change two of the commandments. The commandments I would change are "keep the Sabbath" and "honor your father and your mother". I would change "keep the Sabbath" to be taking a day of rest any day of the week, instead of Sunday. I changed it because nowadays it is very common for people to work on Sundays and it would allow people to rest whenever they got a day off. For "honor your father and your mother" I wouldn't change it, but add more like a sub section which exempts people from this commandment if they do not have a real connection with their father/mother. I added this part, so people would not have to honor somebody they do not know. Like no one wants to honor their dad if he left you as a child and never came back.
I believe that the parable of the Good Samaritan relates to me because one day my brother needed help with his homework. He asked for my help, but I was tired and did not help him. If I would have applied the Parable of the Good Samaritan I wouldn't have ignored my brother because I was tired. I would have helped him complete it.
No, I do not believe that United State's impression of Muslims are fair. Ever since 9/11 many Americans have stereo typed Muslims as terrorists. These impressions are not fair because only five men out 1.57 billion Muslims committed this terrible act. It is not the Muslim's fault, they have no control over insane people. If this had been any other culture would probably have blamed them, too. I believe Americans can create better relations with Muslims by getting to know them better and trying to accept them as normal people.
Brian: Hello sir, my name is Brian.
Guru: Why hello there. Anything I can do for you?
Brian: Well I have three questions about Hinduism, and I was wondering if you could answer them?
Guru: Why yes I can.
Brian: First, I was wondering what happens once a soul truly achieves moksha? What is it like? Where do they go?
Guru: Well moksha means liberation. It is when a soul is finally freed from the samsara cycle. After, the soul is reunited with Brahman. Brahman is the ultimate reality. Brahman is a heavenly place where I live and the souls are able to rest from all the hardships their pass live had to go through.
Brian: That is very interesting. Second, I was wondering if I am really living in an illusion called Maya? And if so, what is the purpose of us living in an illusion?
Guru: Yes you are living a Maya. Maya is an illusion in which everyone lives in that has not reached moksha. The purpose of Maya is kinda to test you, to see if you are worthy to reach moksha and be reunited with Brahman. Maya allows me to see if people actually follow the dharma.
Brian: Wow that is very fascinating. Finally, I was wondering why you take many forms as other types of gods? Why don't you just stay God?
Guru: Well the reason why I take many forms is so that I appeal to everyone. Every person worships whatever god appeals to them the most. If am many gods I can appeal to everyone. For example, if a person like to preserve the world, they can pray to Vishnu.
Brian: Thank you for your time. This was very insightful!
Mindfulness was very tough. It took me a lot of concentration to sit still and reflect on my thoughts. Mindfulness to me was like trying to go to sleep right after drinking a soda, you try to fall asleep, but you can't because the caffeine is keeping you up. During my meditations, I gave my best effort to let go of the outside world and try to focus on my thoughts, but it was difficult and I kept losing focus. One thought that kept going through my mind was how are monks able to do this for extended period of times. To me the five minutes felt like an hour and it is amazing how a man could meditate for forty minutes. But eventually on Sunday, I got the hang of meditation or at lest a better understanding of it. I was able to focus on my thoughts more clearly when I started to pay attention to my breathing. The thoughts that I had were memories about family and friends, and the good times I have had with all of them. In the end, mindfulness was very difficult, but i persevered through and I believe now I have a better understanding of it.
If I were God, and I was giving Moses the Ten Commandments all over again, I would only change two of the commandments. The commandments I would change are "keep the Sabbath" and "honor your father and your mother". I would change "keep the Sabbath" to be taking a day of rest any day of the week, instead of Sunday. I changed it because nowadays it is very common for people to work on Sundays and it would allow people to rest whenever they got a day off. For "honor your father and your mother" I wouldn't change it, but add more like a sub section which exempts people from this commandment if they do not have a real connection with their father/mother. I added this part, so people would not have to honor somebody they do not know. Like no one wants to honor their dad if he left you as a child and never came back.
I believe that the parable of the Good Samaritan relates to me because one day my brother needed help with his homework. He asked for my help, but I was tired and did not help him. If I would have applied the Parable of the Good Samaritan I wouldn't have ignored my brother because I was tired. I would have helped him complete it.
No, I do not believe that United State's impression of Muslims are fair. Ever since 9/11 many Americans have stereo typed Muslims as terrorists. These impressions are not fair because only five men out 1.57 billion Muslims committed this terrible act. It is not the Muslim's fault, they have no control over insane people. If this had been any other culture would probably have blamed them, too. I believe Americans can create better relations with Muslims by getting to know them better and trying to accept them as normal people.